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Pick a dance
Each genre is a full reference — origins, musical anatomy, technique, variants, pioneers, and cultural context.
Salsa
Afro-Cuban son, reborn as New York's signature dance in the 1970s.
Bachata
The Dominican Republic's guitar-led romance, now danced worldwide.
Mambo
Big-band Cuban dance music that lit up the 1950s Palladium era.
Cha-cha-chá
A playful offshoot of mambo and danzón, named for its triple step.
Son Cubano
The Afro-Cuban root of salsa, born in eastern Cuba.
Rumba (Cuban)
Secular Afro-Cuban drumming, song and dance: yambú, guaguancó, columbia.
Timba
Cuba's hard-driving modern salsa, forged in 1990s Havana.
Danzón
Cuba's elegant national dance, ancestor of mambo and cha-cha-chá.
Bolero
The slow, romantic ballad of the Latin songbook.
Guaracha
An up-tempo, witty Cuban song form with a satirical streak.
Pachanga
A bouncy, festive Cuban craze of the early 1960s.
Merengue
The Dominican Republic's quick two-step national dance.
Merengue Típico
The accordion-driven country roots of Dominican merengue.
Cumbia
Colombia's coastal rhythm that swept across all of Latin America.
Vallenato
Accordion-led folk music from Colombia's Caribbean interior.
Samba
Brazil's national rhythm and the heartbeat of Carnival.
Forró
Northeastern Brazil's accordion dance of the close embrace.
Brazilian Zouk
A flowing, wave-like partner dance evolved from lambada.
Lambada
The fast, arching Brazilian dance craze of the late 1980s.
Argentine Tango
The improvised embrace born on the Río de la Plata.
Milonga
Tango's faster, older cousin — and the social where it is danced.
Kizomba
Angola's slow, grounded partner dance sung in Portuguese.
Semba
The vibrant Angolan ancestor of kizomba.
Urban Kiz
A modern European reinvention of kizomba — sharp and linear.
Bomba
An Afro-Puerto Rican dialogue of drum and dance between dancer and drummer.
Plena
A storytelling Puerto Rican folk rhythm — the sung newspaper of its day.
Reggaeton
The dembow-driven urban sound of the Caribbean diaspora.
Kompa
Haiti's smooth, mid-tempo partner groove.
Bailar
Find a dance social near you
Read the history, then go dance it. Bailar maps Latin dance socials, studios, and classes worldwide.